Unofficial Portkey Archive

Chapter 38

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Spring had reached Spain long before it had back in Britain. Hermione was now smuggling children together with Cedric Diggory again. Cedric was very unhappy with Dumbledore for being pulled out of battle, but in the end he had to admit that the old injury he had received was severely slowing him down during battles.

She was sitting outside, leaning against the house they were hiding in. She had her eyes closed and her face tilted to the warming sun.

It had been so long since she had heard from Harry, just like last time they were separated. This time she felt somewhat more prepared though.

She ran a hand over the soft grass next to her. The grass was still dead, yellow and the ground was a bit moist from the dawn.

She looked up as she saw Cedric approaching. He sat down next to her without speaking.

She looked over at the brown hill ahead and admired the beauty of the dry Spanish landscape.

"I could live here," she thought aloud and Cedric looked down at her. "When all of this is over…" she added.

"We have a problem," he said not commenting on her statement.

"What?" she leaned forward from the wall and looked around hastily.

"Two families have arrived. Two men, two women and six children. They want to come with us."

Hermione closed her eyes and clenched her fists. This had happened a few times and it was the worst thing in the world, having to decline someone who just wanted to be safe.

"Aren't there any refugee camp around here?" she asked.

"No, and the battles are getting closer to here."

"How many children do we have?"

"Six."

"And they have six, plus the adults make sixteen, and then there's us, that'd be eighteen. How many did the captain say we could bring in the boat."

"Twelve," Cedric mumbled.

"I hate this part," Hermione groaned and started to get up. She reached out a hand to Cedric and helped him off the ground. They walked into the house and found the two families at the corner of the room.

The old man who owned the house and was hiding Hermione, Cedric and the children was talking to them animatedly.

Hermione smiled kindly, but sadly as she approached. One woman spoke up and started speaking quickly in Spanish to her.

"What is she saying?" Hermione asked the old man.

"She is saying that they want to come, they have nowhere to go or to hide. They live right were the battle is heading and they want to keep the children safe."

Hermione looked down. The woman spoke again.

The man translated at once.

"She says, she knows you can't take them all. But she begs you to take the children, bring them to England and keep them safe.

Hermione looked up at Cedric.

"That makes fourteen," he whispered. "The captain will only take twelve."

Hermione turned back to the two families. One of the children was not even a year old; she could hide that one near to her. And they must be able to bribe the captain… She looked into the mothers eyes and they were filled with tears. She felt weak in the knees and had to bite her lip, she wanted to weep.

"We can't leave them," she turned to Cedric.

"No, we can't." he agreed. "We will take the children," he finished and as the old man translated the parents smiled with relief and gratitude but quickly their smiles turned into anguish and despair. They would be parted from their children, whom they might never see them again.

"Tell them that we are leaving tonight," Cedric said to the old man. "And that they have to try and leave this area as fast as possible."

"I have told them they can stay here if they choose," the old man said.

-

As night came the children were all packed tightly into a small minivan. Hermione walked up to the mother with the infant and as she handed the baby to Hermione she burst into tears.

"Mi beba, mi querida niña inocente. Cuidala, por favor cuidala... cuidalos todos... ," she moaned. Hermione didn't know what it meant but she could feel the desperation from the mother. She turned to enter the car and saw one of the fathers having to pry away three children from the others mothers arms.

Finally the doors were shut and they started pulling away.

One of the women almost collapsed and was held up by her husband. Hermione rolled down the window and called out to the old man.

"Tell them that I swear I will keep them safe, I will!" As she rolled the window back up she felt Cedric squeeze her shoulder and she whimpered into the neck of the small baby.

"I will keep you safe!" she promised and cried softly.

-

Harry was guarding their camp as he heard someone running up to him. He drew his wand, even though he knew the footsteps well.

"Harry," Ron panted.

"What is it?"

"Sirius, he's back! You have to come!" Harry turned to Neville who quickly said:

"Go, I can handle it here!"

Harry sprinted after Ron, excited at what he might found out.

He and Ron hurried into the interrogation tent. He was surprised to find both Sirius and Remus Lupin there. Lupin only stopped by very rarely, and Harry hadn't heard he would arrive. They were both huddled over something… someone.

They pulled away when they heard them enter and spun around.

"Harry!" Sirius said and gave him a very brief and fast hug.

Harry saw the man they had been huddled over, it was Peter Pettigrew. It was good that they had caught Peter, he was a loyal Death Eater, but Harry had no idea why he had been called here for that. This happened all the time.

"P-P-Please Sirius," Peter Pettigrew stammered.

"P-P-Please what?" he sneered back and turned to Peter. With a loud bam he had slammed his fist right into Peter's mouth and the chair he was tied to tumbled backwards.

"Don't hurt me, please…" he spat from the floor. Harry saw Peter spit a tooth from his mouth.

Lupin yanked the chair back up.

"Where is Voldemort?" he asked acting like the interruption hadn't happened.

"I don't know, I could never know such-"

*Bam*

Again Peter was lying on the floor. He sobbed loudly.

"You were saying?" Lupin asked, not bothering bringing Peter back up now. Sirius placed his shoe on Peter's neck.

"I could kill you so easily Peter, just a bit of pressure here…" the way his voice sounded… Harry had never heard anything like it from Sirius.

"Sirius…" Lupin said warningly and Sirius yanked his foot away.

-

Quite a while later, Harry had no idea how long - witnessing this kind of questioning he always felt went on forever. He had started feeling sick to his stomach and wished Peter Pettigrew would just spill.

"If you don't tell us Peter, I will tell Harry exactly what you've done. And you know what will happen then..:"

"Okay okay…" Peter finally coughed, throwing a quick glance at Harry. "But you have to promise to keep me safe, make sure the Dark Lord doesn't find out-"

"Speak!" Sirius bellowed.

"Voldemort is hiding in a castle in Wales. It is protected by all the spells you can imagine…"

"But word is that he has fled," Lupin said.

"That's what he wants everyone to believe, that's why there was an attack in London. So that people would think he had left. But he is there, hiding in his room. He doesn't dare enter the magical world as it is." Peter took a moment to spit more blood from his mouth. "He wants to make sure he is safe. He has a special guard outside the door. Only this guard is allowed to speak to the Dark Lord. He brings his food; he carries his orders... all of it."

Lupin and Sirius looked at each other. They had gotten the information Dumbledore had asked them to get from Pettigrew.

"Anything else?" Lupin asked.

Peter seemed to ponder.

"Eh yes, tomorrow, "he looked frightened, "there will be an attack on the village."

"We know that," Sirius groaned. "You know what's next Wormtail, why don't you tell me what's next…" he grinned.

"No Sirius, please!" Peter mumbled.

Sirius spun around to Harry and spat the words quickly. In a rush of words he told him that it was Peter who had told Voldemort where to find Lily and James. He told them about Peter's betrayal and why Sirius had been forbidden to tell Harry this by Dumbledore.

"He thought you wouldn't stand being undercover near him all those times if you knew…" Lupin added.

Harry felt like the world was spinning. He looked at Peter Pettigrew again. A few moments ago he had just been a cowardly, evil Death Eater. Now he saw him for what he was. A murderer…

Sirius turned back to Peter.

"I have waited for this moment since the evening I rescued Harry from that house. Meeting you again Peter, it is what has kept me going all these years."

"Sirius…" Peter said and tears ran down his face. "Forgive me…"

"James might have forgiven you, he was better that way. But we'll never know, you made sure of that…"

In a brief movement Sirius drew his dagger from his cloak and jammed it into Peter's heart.

Peter stuttered slightly and spat some blood, but it went quick… and his head drooped as his heart stopped.

-

Hermione and Cedric were walking through the large leafy forest. They were all exhausted, and some of the children were sobbing to themselves as they walked. Hermione had the baby in her arms and was carrying another boy on her back. Cedric had a girl on his back and held the hands of two boys, they were so tired, they kept stumbling.

"Soon, we'll be there soon!" Hermione promised but she knew none of the children could understand her.

"Let's rest for a moment," Cedric suggested and she was happy to obey.

"How long `til we reach the camp at this speed?" Hermione asked.

"Maybe two hours, if they don't get even more tired." Cedric reached into his sack and pulled out a small chocolate candy bar. He divided into equal pieces and passed it around to the children. They were happy to get the treat and ate it in silence.

"They need food," Hermione said to Cedric. "They are exhausted."

"Yeah I know, but it took a bit too long to get them here."

"I'm not sure how long we'll be able to keep this up, each time we have to travel further detours to keep hidden. It is wearing the children out, they are ready to pass out…" her voice shook as she spoke.

"I know," he smiled kindly at her and she ran a hand through her hair. She was so tired, it felt like she could collapse at any moment. Cedric reached over and squeezed her hand kindly. Suddenly he froze and stared at her.

"W-wh-…?"

He raised a finger to his mouth and then pointed to his ear. Hermione listened intently and indeed, a breaking twig was heard also by her.

"Hurry!" he mouthed to her and they gathered the children under a bush. Hermione ran over and grabbed a large branch and threw it over the bush, hoping it would help. It was useless, they were easy to spot.

"I'll look!" she mouthed while pointing at her eye and handed the small baby back to Cedric. Quietly she snuck down the side of the path and saw three men walking there.

They were without a doubt Death Eaters.

"I'm telling you, I heard something!" one of them said.

"You always say that," one of the others answered.

Nonetheless they walked after, following him and to Hermione's horror they were heading straight for the children. She hurried back.

She saw them all hiding, the children petrified, under the bushes. There was no way the Death Eaters wouldn't see them.

She reached for her wand and met Cedric eyes. He opened them wider in terror and shook his head at her. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She looked at the faces of the children in hiding, there was no way she could take the chance of them getting caught. And they couldn't risk a close encounter battle with them so close.

She blinked meaningfully at Cedric and bit her lip. Before he could react she mumbled a spell and pointed at them. The bushes covered them perfectly and they were gone from her eyesight. She knew they could see her, but to her, it seemed liked she was all alone on the small patch.

"There! A spell!" she heard the voice shout eerily. She knew using the spell would bring them right to her, she had made the choice. The men arrived shortly by her side, both of them keeping their wands raised.

"You!" one of them screamed as they hurried forward to her. He took one look at the state of her and was without a doubt of her blood status. He slammed his fist into her jaw and Hermione's face crashed into the leaves.

"Are you alone?" he screamed and Hermione grunted as she received a kick to the ribs.

"Y-Yes…" she coughed.

"Why did you cast a hiding spell?" he yelled and grabbed her hair. He pulled her up by it and shook her.

"I heard you coming, I was frightened. But I didn't know how to do it right," she said and blood ran down her chin.

"Course a mudblood wouldn't know how to do it right," he laughed and the others joined the first two to find her. He slapped her and she fell back on the ground.

"Do we have time?" he turned to the others.

"Naa… we have to report in ten minutes," his friend grunted back.

"Shame."

The man yanked Hermione by the hair and started pulling her behind him. She struggled to get to her feet and tried to walk by herself.

"You're going to jail, you are missy!" he snorted.

"You'll be hanged, you will;" the other one snickered.

-

Harry was eating dinner with Ron and Neville by his side. They had walked for the last three days, not meeting opposition yet. That could only mean one thing: the calm before the storm. Tonight it would happen for sure.

"One more egg please," Ron said to the soldier who had kitchen duty this week.

Harry was full and didn't want anymore. He looked down at his muddy boots. They had already ruined this green field, all their walking had turned it into mud.

Sirius sat down next to them and reached out for a plate handed to him.

"I've seen their camp now, it's almost one hundred Death Eaters on the other side of the hill."

"Piece of cake," Ron said and ate a spoon full.

"Mm…" Sirius said. "I would just hope they would run out soon, I mean how many Death Eaters can there be?"

"Yeah I know," Harry agreed.

"Just think, soon we'll be back home," Ron said confidently, "It'll be Christmas and my mum will make a large mince pie, and hot mulled wine... Oh and some turkey and pudding…" Ron trailed of and both Sirius and Harry laughed at him.

"That does sound brilliant. I'd take a nice cold ale and some fish and chips myself." Sirius said. "How about you Harry?"

But Harry had stopped listening.

He saw movement at the edge of the camp, some of the men were holding someone. He thought he caught a glimpse of the face and adjusted his glasses.

Dread dropped into his stomach; surely he hadn't seen who he thought he had.

"What is it Harry?" Sirius asked and turned and looked.

"Who is that?" Ron asked. Harry tried to focus on the person walking towards them. "Is it Cedric?" Ron added and Harry stood up, not thinking about the plate of food on his lap. Only when he heard the crash to the floor did he realize he had had it.

Cedric was focused on Harry, and even though the guards were still chasing him he kept pushing through them, running straight for Harry. Neville was trying to tell them that Cedric was a fellow, and he was allowed in.

Harry had started running towards Cedric, holding his breath.

He and Cedric were locked on each other and reached each other in half a moment, or it could have been a minute, Harry had no idea.

Harry stopped short in front of him.

"What is it?" his voice barely held.

"I need to talk to you," Cedric hissed and looked pointedly around him. Harry yanked him by the elbow and they hurried towards Harry's tent.

-

"What's going on?" Harry said, his voice shaking as Ron had entered the tent with them.

"They've taken her!" Cedric quickly said.

Harry's breath was knocked out of him and he sat down on his bed. His face was suddenly burning and he thought he might be violently sick. He heard Ron ask questions.

"Who?"

"The Death Eaters?"

"How?"

"They found us in the woods,"

"How did you get away?" Ron sounded accusing and Harry looked up at Cedric.

"She sacrificed herself so the children we were smuggling wouldn't be caught. And…"

"What?" Harry demanded.

"They said she would be hung," Cedric added and both Ron and Harry groaned.

Cedric collapsed on the bed next to Harry.

"When did they take her?"

"Three days ago..."

Harry shot up from the bed and turned to Cedric.

"Three days?!" he felt panicky and his blood was rushing too fast. So much could have happened in three days.

"I have been looking for you since; no one knew where you were… I tried… I couldn't get in touch with Dumbledore…" Cedric sounded broken when he spoke.

Ron looked frightened at Harry.

"What can we do?" he asked.

Harry took a deep breath and looked between them. Ron looked terrified and Cedric looked like he had given up. Harry wanted to hit Cedric, he wasn't sure why. Maybe it was because Cedric seemed to have given up, he seemed so sure Hermione was dead. It might have been that Hermione had gotten hurt in his company, or just that he had brought this bad news.

"I am going to London," Harry said determinately without hesitation. He reached for his duffle bag, it wasn't even packed yet.

"I'll come!" Ron said.

"You can come and go straight to the camp Ron, but you can't come to London, you are a wanted man!"

Everyone looked confused.

"You have to tell Sirius," Ron said.

"No, there isn't time. I have to get back now. Ron, are you coming?"

"Course!"

"I'm there as well!" Cedric said.

Harry walked outside with his bag. Cedric was getting water for them and Ron was getting his own bag.

Sirius walked up to him.

"What's going on?" Harry couldn't tell Sirius. He was sure Sirius wouldn't let him go back to London, it was completely against Dumbledore's orders and Sirius had no idea about Harry and Hermione. He didn't know they were married… and most importantly: that they were in love!

-

I just want to really say thanks to those of you leaving a review. You should know that you really put a smile on my face and I am grateful for each one!!

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